The New Orleans Saints typically make their coordinators available for media on Thursdays each week, which gave special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi an opportunity to address the recent signing of free agent kicker Austin Seibert.
It was previously reported that Seibert was signed as a backup plan should Blake Grupe’s recent groin muscle injury sideline him, but Rizzi doesn’t anticipate an absence for the rookie in Sunday’s game with the Detroit Lions.
“Yeah, I’m not going to make any great predictions, I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t (play),” Rizzi said Thursday. “We’ll see as the week goes on. He’s got some more kicking he’s got to do this week. But Austin went today and he’s capable if we need him.”
Rizzi echoed the previous sentiment surrounding Seibert’s arrival, characterizing the pickup as an insurance policy: “The workout this week had nothing to do with a performance thing, it was more an insurance policy for us. We get a guy like Austin who’s an experienced player, a guy that’s kicked in the league for a few years. Actually has a game under his belt this year.”
Grupe was responsible for all 15 points the Saints scored against the Atlanta Falcons last week (while playing through an injury), so the team isn’t in a rush to replace him. He’s been limited on the injury report for each of the first two practices going into the Lions game so we’ll have to wait for a game status update on Friday. But it sounds like the Saints expect him to be active and busy come Sunday.
